September 19, 2007

AP: Belgium for sale on eBay

Charles de Gaulle famously said that Belgium is a country invented by the British to annoy the French. Belgium and Belgians indeed are highly complex. Belgium historically has been the "battlefield of Europe", and there are overlapping communities here speaking Dutch, French and German. Politics are often conducted along these lines: the Dutch-speaking Flemish v. French-speaking Walloons. Personally, WAC? finds Belgians--you can't generalize, but we will--educated, efficient, smart, artistic, sophisticated, multilingual, haughty, festive, solid and yet a bit high strung (takes one to know one). A highly civilized region with subtle, and very old, tensions lurking. Finally, one Belgian, well, just lost it: "Someone Tries to Sell Belgium on EBay".